Scientists accidentally set tools to wrong date
Scientists monitoring New Zealand’s largest fault line have fished up monitoring instruments with no data on them due to programming errors.
As part of ongoing research into the Hikurangi subduction zone off the North Island’s east coast, seismic monitoring instruments are being placed on and removed from the ocean floor.
Dr Samer Naif, who is leading the current voyage, said three instruments recently fished up by scientists had no data on them.
‘‘Three of the 170 ocean-bottom electromagnetic (OBEM) receivers . . . were set to the wrong date.’’
The instruments record electric and magnetic data. The data collected on the current voyage would be used to construct an image ‘‘like a medical MRI’’ of fluid conditions below the sea floor. Fluid conditions affect the likelihood and type of earthquakes that occur at faults.
The team lost about 2 per cent of the overall data.
‘‘We were certainly disappointed when we realised what had happened, as prior to this event we had a perfect track record,’’ Naif said.
One person was tasked with setting the recording date, and a second person checked the settings to confirm correctness.
‘‘This was a case of user error, where the date was accidentally programmed with the wrong year.
‘‘It happened at a time when we were trying to work really quickly to avoid a weather front with rough seas and gale force winds forecast to arrive later that day,’’ Naif said.
The scientists had brought spare materials, and designed the experiment with enough contingency time in case of such events, he said.
‘‘This means we will be able to luckily recollect the lost data within the next few days.’’